A lady friend in Palm Springs requested that I look for some statuary she’d seen on a recent trip to Santa Fe with her daughter. Small world - she’d stayed at La Posada just 2 or 3 weeks before I moved over here. The statues are “across from the big church.” Yah, shore, after 400 years of heavy Catholicism in this country, there’s a surfeit of “big churches,” so I went a lookin’. Just down the way about 3 or 4 blocks is the big “Loretto” hotel. Fancy place, and I really like the “Pueblo” style architecture…….

Next door to it, to the north, is the 2nd largest church around, and sure enuf, across from that church, there’s a big art gallery specializing in statuary……and what statuary ! ! ! Across the corner from them is a shop with a bronze of an Old Western frontiersman looking out for trouble…………..

With 1 exception, all the statues in these pictures are life size or larger. All, I think, are bronze. This Bighorn Sheep is about 3½ feet high at the shoulder………..

And here’s the exception. This one’s only about 2 ft tall……….

This is a stylized, over-muscled Indian warrior with a wolf head cape fighting or capturing an eagle…….

OK, without further B.S., here’s a selection of terrific work………….

These Elk, especially, are enormous. They must be 8 or 10 ft high. Magnificent………..

The lighting made it almost impossible to get this Cougar attacking a warrior……….

There are statues on the street corners here, much like murals on building walls in other cities. Here’s one from a couple of blocks away from the gallery……….

Santa Fe is a neat place to visit - let alone being lucky enuf to live here………..

Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: December 16th, 2007 under 06-12-23 Santa Fe Statuary, 08 New Mexico.
Comments: none